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Dean (6921 KP) rated Aladdin (2019) in Movies
May 22, 2019 (Updated May 22, 2019)
Very entertaining family film
Well I have to say I was a bit surprised when I saw Guy Ritchie come up as the director at the start, especially after the King Arthur film. Gladly none of his usual editing techniques are on show here. I can only just remember the cartoon version when I was younger. The humour of the genie voiced by Robin Williams made the film for me.
So a tough act to follow. The film is visually dazzling, in the costumes, sets, CGI and SFX in general. It all looks very realistic. I'm not a big fan of the songs, some are better than others. Overall it's a bit unfair to compare it to the original. It's a fun and light hearted film that goes by at a good pace and doesn't feel like a long film. Naomi Scott does look like a Disney princess. Maybe not as funny as the original but it's still a film all ages should enjoy.
So a tough act to follow. The film is visually dazzling, in the costumes, sets, CGI and SFX in general. It all looks very realistic. I'm not a big fan of the songs, some are better than others. Overall it's a bit unfair to compare it to the original. It's a fun and light hearted film that goes by at a good pace and doesn't feel like a long film. Naomi Scott does look like a Disney princess. Maybe not as funny as the original but it's still a film all ages should enjoy.
Darren (1599 KP) rated Hook (1991) in Movies
Jul 7, 2019
Director: Steven Spielberg
Writer: James V Hart, Nick Castle, Malia Scotch Marmo (Screenplay) J.M. Barrie (Books)
Starring: Dustin Hoffman, Robin Williams, Julia Roberts, Bob Hoskins, Maggie Smith, Caroline Goodall, Charlie Korsmo, Amber Scott
Plot: When Captain Hook kidnaps his children, an adult Peter Pan must return to Neverland and reclaim his youthful spirit in order to challenge his old enemy.
Tagline – What if Peter Pan grew up?
Runtime: 2 Hours 22 Minutes
There may be spoilers in the rest of the review
Verdict: Fun-Filled Fantasy
Story: Hook starts as we meet businessman Peter Banning (Williams) who has started over working leading to his children become distant, his wife Moira (Goodall) forces him to visit his Granny Wendy (Smith) in London for Christmas, where she sees how much Peter has changed since his childhood of never wanting to grow up.
Captain Hook (Hoffman) takes Peter’s children, which sees Peter needing to be pushed into returning to Neverland, a place he has long forgotten about, with Tinkerbell (Roberts) taking him there only for Hook to be left disappointed by the man Peter has become, Tinkerbell has three days to restore Peter’s faith in Neverland to save his children.
Thoughts on Hook
Characters – Peter Banning is a lawyer that has been neglecting his family, his Grandmother sees him losing his young heart that made her take him in, in the first place, Peter must confront his past to save his children from his old nemesis Captain Hook in Neverland, a place he has long since forgotten about. Peter has become everything he once hated as a child and shows how at times parents can get buried in their work. Captain Hook has been waiting for the day Peter Pan returns, he is left disappointed when he does return a shell of the boy that left, giving him three days to prepare for a battle, while having his own plan to get revenge on Peter. Tinkerbell comes to Peter to bring him back to Neverland, she helps transform him back to his original self, while showing him what he is still fighting for.
Performances – Robin Williams was a great choice for this role, he gets to manages the serious adult side of everything as well as the playful side of Peter Pan with ease being able to swap between the two whenever he needs to. Dustin Hoffman as the villainous Hook has great enjoyment in this role where he does get to play along with his character. Julia Roberts does all she needs to do without being as involved as the lead too.
Story – The story follows an older Peter Pan that must return to Neverland to save his own children after his old nemesis Captain Hook takes them there. This spin on the Peter Pan story is a wonderful on because see Peter grown up becoming everything he promised he wouldn’t shows us just how difficult being an adult can be, you will turn your back on parts of your childhood become what you once feared. This was always the meaning behind Peter Pan in the first place, finding an escape from the busy lives, now an adult must use this to save his own relationship with his children and family, which is what is important in life.
Adventure/Comedy/Fantasy – The adventure side of the film takes Peter to Neverland to relive moments of his childhood in a fantasy battle against pirates with fairies on their side. We do get elements of comedy, but even Robin Williams is held back from going into his full routine like we saw in Aladdin.
Settings – The film uses the same settings that we know from Peter Pan, the London setting might well be a more modern one, but Neverland hasn’t aged a day since Peter has left.
Scene of the Movie – The battle.
That Moment That Annoyed Me – Pop culture references.
Final Thoughts – This is a magical version of Peter Pan’s adventures showing how life can change for adults who never thought they would be when they were children.
Overall: Magical adventure.
Rating
Writer: James V Hart, Nick Castle, Malia Scotch Marmo (Screenplay) J.M. Barrie (Books)
Starring: Dustin Hoffman, Robin Williams, Julia Roberts, Bob Hoskins, Maggie Smith, Caroline Goodall, Charlie Korsmo, Amber Scott
Plot: When Captain Hook kidnaps his children, an adult Peter Pan must return to Neverland and reclaim his youthful spirit in order to challenge his old enemy.
Tagline – What if Peter Pan grew up?
Runtime: 2 Hours 22 Minutes
There may be spoilers in the rest of the review
Verdict: Fun-Filled Fantasy
Story: Hook starts as we meet businessman Peter Banning (Williams) who has started over working leading to his children become distant, his wife Moira (Goodall) forces him to visit his Granny Wendy (Smith) in London for Christmas, where she sees how much Peter has changed since his childhood of never wanting to grow up.
Captain Hook (Hoffman) takes Peter’s children, which sees Peter needing to be pushed into returning to Neverland, a place he has long forgotten about, with Tinkerbell (Roberts) taking him there only for Hook to be left disappointed by the man Peter has become, Tinkerbell has three days to restore Peter’s faith in Neverland to save his children.
Thoughts on Hook
Characters – Peter Banning is a lawyer that has been neglecting his family, his Grandmother sees him losing his young heart that made her take him in, in the first place, Peter must confront his past to save his children from his old nemesis Captain Hook in Neverland, a place he has long since forgotten about. Peter has become everything he once hated as a child and shows how at times parents can get buried in their work. Captain Hook has been waiting for the day Peter Pan returns, he is left disappointed when he does return a shell of the boy that left, giving him three days to prepare for a battle, while having his own plan to get revenge on Peter. Tinkerbell comes to Peter to bring him back to Neverland, she helps transform him back to his original self, while showing him what he is still fighting for.
Performances – Robin Williams was a great choice for this role, he gets to manages the serious adult side of everything as well as the playful side of Peter Pan with ease being able to swap between the two whenever he needs to. Dustin Hoffman as the villainous Hook has great enjoyment in this role where he does get to play along with his character. Julia Roberts does all she needs to do without being as involved as the lead too.
Story – The story follows an older Peter Pan that must return to Neverland to save his own children after his old nemesis Captain Hook takes them there. This spin on the Peter Pan story is a wonderful on because see Peter grown up becoming everything he promised he wouldn’t shows us just how difficult being an adult can be, you will turn your back on parts of your childhood become what you once feared. This was always the meaning behind Peter Pan in the first place, finding an escape from the busy lives, now an adult must use this to save his own relationship with his children and family, which is what is important in life.
Adventure/Comedy/Fantasy – The adventure side of the film takes Peter to Neverland to relive moments of his childhood in a fantasy battle against pirates with fairies on their side. We do get elements of comedy, but even Robin Williams is held back from going into his full routine like we saw in Aladdin.
Settings – The film uses the same settings that we know from Peter Pan, the London setting might well be a more modern one, but Neverland hasn’t aged a day since Peter has left.
Scene of the Movie – The battle.
That Moment That Annoyed Me – Pop culture references.
Final Thoughts – This is a magical version of Peter Pan’s adventures showing how life can change for adults who never thought they would be when they were children.
Overall: Magical adventure.
Rating
FG
Film Genre Reader: v. 4
Book
From reviews of the third edition: "Film Genre Reader III lives up to the high expectations set by...
Chris Sawin (602 KP) rated World's Greatest Dad (2009) in Movies
Jun 22, 2019
Lance Clayton is a pretty well-established writer, in a sense. He's written several novels and children's books. The problem is none of his work has ever been published. Every submission to publishers has been denied. So Lance tells himself that if his next novel is rejected, he'll give up writing. Lance is also a high school poetry teacher that's on the verge of losing his course due to not having enough student interest. During all of this, Lance has his hands full with his son Kyle. Kyle doesn't seem too interested in much of anything other than the most disturbing type of pornographic videos while continually acting out at school and is on the verge of being transferred to a school for students with special needs. Then, as if that wasn't enough, Lance is seeing the art teacher, Claire, who wants to keep their relationship a secret while not getting too serious. So, it's safe to say that Lance has his hands full. On top of it all though, he's afraid of dying alone. Lance winds up getting everything he's ever wanted after a certain situation presents itself, but soon realizes having all of that doesn't automatically make you happy.
World's Greatest Dad hooked me the first time I read about it debuting at Sundance. I heard, "dark comedy," and, "Robin Williams," and was instantly interested. Then the trailer and plot summary really reeled me in. The result is a film that not only surpassed expectations, but also went in an unexpected direction. When a film is described as a dark comedy, it has usually still stuck to specific guidelines. Maybe it still followed a similar formula to what other comedies did before it. These other films that are labeled as dark comedies don't really break any new ground. World's Greatest Dad goes beyond that. It breaks any ground rules that were laid before it and doesn't follow any sort of formula. When they say, "dark," they aren't kidding. The subject content is pretty disturbing yet is somehow still humorous.
Robin Williams plays the role of a dad who's trying to do his best with the obstacles life has thrown at him incredibly well. With everything that's going on in his life, even in the moments of the film where he doesn't speak, it looks like he's constantly thinking about something. Always dwelling on what's going on around him with the people who are close to him in his life and trying to decide how he's going to handle this situation he's gotten himself into. While his role does show a bit of his comedic side, Robin Williams proves he can handle serious roles rather well with this performance.
While I obviously can't say much about what direction the film goes in without completely spoiling the film, I will say that the trailer does a good job of not giving any of that away. Once the film makes that turn though, it really follows through with it and doesn't let up. One of the best parts of the experience of watching this film for the first time is seeing how far the concept of the film is going to go. As Lance buries himself in this, people begin to say the actions that were taken changed their life for the better. If you told a lie that did that to not just one person, but practically an entire high school...how would you tell them the truth?
World's Greatest Dad is not going to be for everyone. Some people will love it and others will just downright hate it. The film isn't just dark, it's DARK. That and it's a very different kind of comedy with an unexpected turn of events. Most of the humor is very dry, so if that's not your thing then I wouldn't recommend it. For me personally though, it's one of the most interesting films I've seen in quite some time.
World's Greatest Dad hooked me the first time I read about it debuting at Sundance. I heard, "dark comedy," and, "Robin Williams," and was instantly interested. Then the trailer and plot summary really reeled me in. The result is a film that not only surpassed expectations, but also went in an unexpected direction. When a film is described as a dark comedy, it has usually still stuck to specific guidelines. Maybe it still followed a similar formula to what other comedies did before it. These other films that are labeled as dark comedies don't really break any new ground. World's Greatest Dad goes beyond that. It breaks any ground rules that were laid before it and doesn't follow any sort of formula. When they say, "dark," they aren't kidding. The subject content is pretty disturbing yet is somehow still humorous.
Robin Williams plays the role of a dad who's trying to do his best with the obstacles life has thrown at him incredibly well. With everything that's going on in his life, even in the moments of the film where he doesn't speak, it looks like he's constantly thinking about something. Always dwelling on what's going on around him with the people who are close to him in his life and trying to decide how he's going to handle this situation he's gotten himself into. While his role does show a bit of his comedic side, Robin Williams proves he can handle serious roles rather well with this performance.
While I obviously can't say much about what direction the film goes in without completely spoiling the film, I will say that the trailer does a good job of not giving any of that away. Once the film makes that turn though, it really follows through with it and doesn't let up. One of the best parts of the experience of watching this film for the first time is seeing how far the concept of the film is going to go. As Lance buries himself in this, people begin to say the actions that were taken changed their life for the better. If you told a lie that did that to not just one person, but practically an entire high school...how would you tell them the truth?
World's Greatest Dad is not going to be for everyone. Some people will love it and others will just downright hate it. The film isn't just dark, it's DARK. That and it's a very different kind of comedy with an unexpected turn of events. Most of the humor is very dry, so if that's not your thing then I wouldn't recommend it. For me personally though, it's one of the most interesting films I've seen in quite some time.
The New Counter-Measures: Series 1
John Dorney, Guy Adams, Ian Potter and Christopher Hatherall
Book
Four new investigations for Sir Toby Kinsella and his specialist team. 1. Nothing to See Here by Guy...
Sam (74 KP) rated Where am I Now?: True Stories of Girlhood and Accidental Fame in Books
Mar 27, 2019
I think I actually expected this to be one of those books that I sort of like but don’t really go mad on but I was wrong.
I always wanted to find out more about the actor behind Matilda and this really gave me the dose I needed.
Mara Wilson is brutally honest about how her acting career when she was younger took its toll on her mental health and even goes into detail about all of the mental health issues she has had. I loved how honest she is – she doesn’t try to sugar-coat it or turn her memoir into a self-help book. Instead she says everything as it is and exactly how it felt for her.
I loved reading about her friendships with other actors, especially Danny DeVito and Robin Williams. I’d previously heard quite a bit about her friendship with Danny DeVito and was really interested in how much he had looked after her while she was working on Matilda.
The only reason that it didn’t make it to five stars from me is that I hoped for a bit more on Matilda, but she seemed to glaze over it a lot.
Overall though, it’s a really interesting read and definitely worth picking up.
I always wanted to find out more about the actor behind Matilda and this really gave me the dose I needed.
Mara Wilson is brutally honest about how her acting career when she was younger took its toll on her mental health and even goes into detail about all of the mental health issues she has had. I loved how honest she is – she doesn’t try to sugar-coat it or turn her memoir into a self-help book. Instead she says everything as it is and exactly how it felt for her.
I loved reading about her friendships with other actors, especially Danny DeVito and Robin Williams. I’d previously heard quite a bit about her friendship with Danny DeVito and was really interested in how much he had looked after her while she was working on Matilda.
The only reason that it didn’t make it to five stars from me is that I hoped for a bit more on Matilda, but she seemed to glaze over it a lot.
Overall though, it’s a really interesting read and definitely worth picking up.
Lewis John Hatchett (23 KP) rated Aladdin (2019) in Movies
May 23, 2019 (Updated May 23, 2019)
Unexpectedly Fun
As a fan of the original 1992 animated film, I came into this film with not much hype but enough that I'd come out enjoying the film. I came our of the film loving it.
The story is pretty much the same as the original but director Guy Ritchie has fleshed out the story extending it with a couple of songs (I'm hoping written by Tim Rice) that are slotted in perfectly.
Guy Ritchie does what he does best and mixes a perfect blend of action, comedic humor and family fun, as he's done in his previous films.
Now the pressing question of Will Smith's portrayal of the Genie. I was sceptical about it at first but the more I watched the trailer for the film the more I adjusted to him. I'm a full fledged fan of the late and great Robin Williams' version of the Genie and Will Smith's version is a perfect interpretation of that character (with some nods to William's animated classic) so I say well done to Mr Smith.
Overall I certainly recommend the film for all fans, old and new, and definitely say go see it and (pardon the pun) experience a whole new world. 9/10
The story is pretty much the same as the original but director Guy Ritchie has fleshed out the story extending it with a couple of songs (I'm hoping written by Tim Rice) that are slotted in perfectly.
Guy Ritchie does what he does best and mixes a perfect blend of action, comedic humor and family fun, as he's done in his previous films.
Now the pressing question of Will Smith's portrayal of the Genie. I was sceptical about it at first but the more I watched the trailer for the film the more I adjusted to him. I'm a full fledged fan of the late and great Robin Williams' version of the Genie and Will Smith's version is a perfect interpretation of that character (with some nods to William's animated classic) so I say well done to Mr Smith.
Overall I certainly recommend the film for all fans, old and new, and definitely say go see it and (pardon the pun) experience a whole new world. 9/10
Paul dixon (6 KP) rated Aladdin (2019) in Movies
Jun 11, 2019
Hi all. I must admit I , like a lot of others, was a bit skeptic when the first trailer for this appeared. My wife downright refused to watch it as the original animated version is one of her favourites. However she eventually came round and we popped along to give it a whirl.
While comparisons to the original are inevitable, this version should be watched as a stand alone movie and not a reboot. It’s great fun from start to finish. It looks great, obviously a lot of money has been spent on sets, costumes and effects, and Will Smith is great as the genie. He doesn’t try to out do robin williams, he makes the character his own and does his own thing.
The one thing that does let it down are the new songs. They aren’t in the same league as the other, more well known songs and to me seem forced into the movie. I had forgot all about them before leaving the cinema, they definitely won’t be held in such high esteem as the other songs, a friend like me etc.
Overall go see it, make up your own mind and forget the trailer even exists
While comparisons to the original are inevitable, this version should be watched as a stand alone movie and not a reboot. It’s great fun from start to finish. It looks great, obviously a lot of money has been spent on sets, costumes and effects, and Will Smith is great as the genie. He doesn’t try to out do robin williams, he makes the character his own and does his own thing.
The one thing that does let it down are the new songs. They aren’t in the same league as the other, more well known songs and to me seem forced into the movie. I had forgot all about them before leaving the cinema, they definitely won’t be held in such high esteem as the other songs, a friend like me etc.
Overall go see it, make up your own mind and forget the trailer even exists
Lee KM Pallatina (951 KP) rated Friends in TV
Aug 30, 2019
The one with all the FRIENDS
Friends is a show about 6 people-
siblings Ross and monica Gellar (still suffering with sibling rivalry) monicas neighbours from across the hall Joey tribbiani (a struggling actor, with the IQ of a child but a heart of gold) and Chandler Bing (the groups comedian and Ross's college roommate) monica's High school bestie Rachel Green ( queen Rachel. Who does whatever she wants in her little Rachel land) & phoebe buffay (wacky, unpredictable and very odd).
The characters and their daily lives are what makes this show great as it mirrors the reality of every day people, although there have been shows since it ended that have had a similar impact on viewers, none have truly come close to being as genuine.
Heart warming storylines, legendary one liners and quotes we all still use today, there's Love, Laughter, Lust, Loss and great cameos from brad Pitt, Jeff Goldblum, Robin Williams, Paul Rudd, Bruce Willis and so many more, it's easy to see why after nearly 20yrs since it ended, it's still here.
Its 2019 & I have personally watched this show from beginning to end (with a little help from Netflix) 7 times an will continue to do so.
siblings Ross and monica Gellar (still suffering with sibling rivalry) monicas neighbours from across the hall Joey tribbiani (a struggling actor, with the IQ of a child but a heart of gold) and Chandler Bing (the groups comedian and Ross's college roommate) monica's High school bestie Rachel Green ( queen Rachel. Who does whatever she wants in her little Rachel land) & phoebe buffay (wacky, unpredictable and very odd).
The characters and their daily lives are what makes this show great as it mirrors the reality of every day people, although there have been shows since it ended that have had a similar impact on viewers, none have truly come close to being as genuine.
Heart warming storylines, legendary one liners and quotes we all still use today, there's Love, Laughter, Lust, Loss and great cameos from brad Pitt, Jeff Goldblum, Robin Williams, Paul Rudd, Bruce Willis and so many more, it's easy to see why after nearly 20yrs since it ended, it's still here.
Its 2019 & I have personally watched this show from beginning to end (with a little help from Netflix) 7 times an will continue to do so.
The Book of Swords
8.0
Rate It
Book
New epic fantasy in the grand tradition—including a never-before-published Song of Ice and Fire...
Fantasy